RD201904

who threatened him with expulsion.

But after Jim retired from the foreign

service, he encountered a problem

no amount of courage or diplomacy

could solve. In 2017, he found himself

exhausted during a trip to South Af-

rica. When he came home to Sarasota,

Florida, he went to see a nephrologist.

A Wingman for Life

A

s an Air Force pilot in Vietnam,

Jim McGee flew 471  combat

missions and earned three

Distinguished Flying Crosses. When

he served as the U.S. ambassador

to Zimbabwe, from 2007 to 2009,

he defied the murderous regime

of then-president Robert Mugabe,

By Jen McCaffery

54 april 2019

Reader’s Digest

illustration by Gel Jamlang

EVERYDAY MIRACLES

Doug Coffman (left) and Jim McGee share an unusual bond.